Introduction In Hong Kong, tuberculin skin test (TST) with a 15 mm cut-off was used at 0 and 3 months for contact screening, but half of future tuberculosis cases might be missed. Follow-on interferon ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science developed in the 1950s to imitate the human ability for solving ...

Background Critical care medicine has historically relied on syndromic diagnoses such as sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and acute kidney injury to guide research and treatment.

Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rapidly evolving condition. Dynamic assessments using patient trajectories may provide novel insights into disease heterogeneity. The primary ...

Background Owing to discrepancies in methodologies and how idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is diagnosed it is challenging to establish a consistent understanding of the disease burden In the UK, ...

Introduction Current bronchiectasis guidelines advise against the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) except in patients with associated asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and/or ...

Objectives Infliximab, an anti-TNF agent, is used to treat sarcoidosis that does not respond to corticosteroids or second-line agents. The efficacy of other anti-TNF agents, non-TNF biologics and ...

BACKGROUND Varicella is 25 times more likely to be complicated by pneumonia in adults than in children. Data on changes in lung function following pneumonia are limited. This study was undertaken to ...

Introduction Identifying acute hypercapnic respiratory failure is crucial in the initial management of acute exacerbations of COPD. Guidelines recommend obtaining arterial blood samples but these are ...

Correspondence to Dr Mohsen Sadatsafavi, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; msafavi{at}mail.ubc.ca Background Low-dose oral ...

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) causes considerable morbidity and mortality in adults, particularly in the elderly. Methods Structured searches of PubMed were conducted to identify up-to ...

Background Poorly controlled asthma is associated with increased morbidity and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU). Therefore, to quantify the environmental impact of asthma care, this ...